Brewers, Pingree roundtable aims to expand craft beer impact

Photo / Tim Greenway The wild barrel room at Allagash Brewing Company in Portland.

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By Lori Valigra

Members of Maine’s craft brewing industry, politicians and related associations met this morning at Shipyard Brewing Co.’s tasting room in Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood to discuss boosting the $400 million annual industry, which is quickly approaching lobster as a major contributor to Maine’s economy.

“We've got a long-term focus on expanding the craft beer industry's impact on Maine's economy, and we will expand upon what happens at this event over the next 3 to 12 months,” Sean Sullivan, executive director of the Maine Brewers’ Guild, wrote Mainebiz in an email.

Because breweries use a lot of raw materials, there is substantial opportunity to expand their impact on ancillary industries including farming, agricultural processors, transportation companies, raw materials suppliers, engineers, electricians, contractors and others, according to a statement from the Maine Brewers’ Guild.

The roundtable aims to connect the agricultural and craft beer communities to generate economic growth, the statement said. The meeting will break into four different sector groups: barley/malting, hops, technology and funding resources, and then reconvene so all four can share information and talk about additional funding and business plan resources.

Attendees scheduled to attend this morning’s meeting were Sullivan; Rep. Chellie Pingree, Joe Marro and Emily Horton (Rep. Pingree's Office); Jeff Pillett-Shores, Rob Tod and Jason Perkins (Allagash Brewing Co.); Jon Benoit (Shipyard Brewing Co.); Donovan Todd (U.S. Department of Agriculture - Farm Service Agency); Amber Lambke (Maine Grain Alliance/ Maine Grains); Heather Sanborn (Rising Tide Brewing Co.); Luci Benedict (University of Southern Maine - Chemistry Dept./ QC2 Lab); Daniel Kleban (Maine Beer Co.); Ellen Mallory (University of Maine Cooperative Extension); Luke Livingston (Baxter Brewing Co.); Joel Alex (Blue Ox Malthouse); Jessica Nixon and Caldie Jackson (Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry); Betsy Biemann (CEI); Gerry Brown (Scale Up Maine); James Dill (UMaine Cooperative Extension); Joshua Buck (Buck Farms/ Maine Malt House); Ryan Houghton (The Hop Yard); and Ian and Jim Sady (Ducktrap River Hops).

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